Swami X

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Swami X (also known as Ex-Swami X or X Swami X) was the stage name of an anonymous psychedelic hippie comedian who frequented Venice Beach and the campuses of UCLA and UC Berkeley from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s.

In his characteristic costume of sandals, dirty bell-bottom blue jeans, an Indian shirt and tie-dyed bandana do-rag, with long, graying hair and a bushy gray beard, this gaunt, droll purveyor of wit and pith held forth on the Kerckhoff Hall lawn next to Bruin Walk on the UCLA campus, or on the sidewalk of Bancroft Avenue near Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley, or on the lawn bordering Brooks Avenue at Venice Beach. Generally unannounced, he would casually stroll into the venue, usually accompanied by a far younger female companion, and wander over to his usual spot. There he would stand, greeting passers-by and chatting amiably with anyone who chanced to stop, until a crowd began to form. Then he would launch into his customary monologue. Before long, the entire quad would be filled with sitting and standing students who found his "lectures" sometimes far more educational than whatever class to which they had been en route before encountering Swami X. His schtick was a zany combination of political satire, potty humor, clever double entendres, sexual ribaldry (far too bawdy to be characterized by innuendo), and local or campus in-jokes.

Nothing about Swami X can be taken seriously. In his own words, says the Swami X, "this is not an act, this is real life. I am a fucking nut". As with most buskers and street performers, little of Swami X's oeuvre was recorded, but a sample clip of one of his typically zany, irreverent performances can be viewed in the following link: *[1] Among his more memorable lines were these:

"They say you are what you eat. If that's true, then I'm a nymphomaniac."

"Nixon says he wants peace with honor. Peace?? All I want is a piece of ass!!"

"Spigothead Agnew" (the then Vice President).

"If you're in bed with a nymphomaniac and a cop bangs on your door and says "open the door right now", you don't say, "Just a minute, officer, I'll be right there." You say "Get lost, motherfucker! Come back next Tuesday!"

The most often quoted line attributed to Swami X is this:

"Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. "Yes" is the answer."

The "Sex is not the answer" bit has been quoted in numerous compendia of pithy observations and sex jokes, usually with a reference to "Swami X" as if his identity were self-evident. See, e.g., *[2] Although few printed works elaborate on his life and repertoire, the many references to him in published works on the Venice Beach scene in the 1970s and 1980s are a testimony to his general notoriety and ubiquity in West Los Angeles, California.

While he was often found on college campuses up and down the West Coast of the United States, Swami X's usual venue was his home of Venice, California (where he was affectionately known as the "Mad MC from the Brooks Avenue Lawn"). He was (and still is) a fixture on the beat or hippie scene at Venice Beach. Rich Mann captured him in the 1970s as follows: "Looking to the heavens, [Swami X] says, 'You promised me Paradise, and I was sent back to Venice?'" *[3]. Another observation was this one by Pat Hartman, who espyed him on a Sunday morning in Venice: "Swami X and his lady (in her leopard skin bikini and bellydancer's fancy waist-encircling jewelry) sat on the steps of Billy's Boarding House playing chess. I saw 15 kites that branched off from various points on one main string." (See P. Harman, Ghost Town: A Venice California Life (September 1981)).*[4] He was also remembered in Texas and Greenwich Village, New York . He was a great man in the eyes of many, a complete imbecile in the eyes of many more, and a genuine character above all.

Swami X recently celebrated his 80th birthday and still lives in Venice, California.

[edit] References

P. Hartman, Call Someplace Paradise (Xlibris Corporation 2000), ISBN 0-7388-2005-9;

J. Stanton, Venice California: 'Coney Island of the Pacific' (2005), at p. 273 (available at http://naid.ucla.edu/venice/articles/bookstore.html);

R. Mann, North Beach 90291: Rich Mann in Venice (1983), ASIN B00070RPEW (Includes a photograph of Swami X performing in Venice c. 1980)

The Spirit of Venice, CA, an Audio CD published by Priority Records (March 10, 1992), ASIN: B00000E7DU (contains an audio version of a spoken word performance by Swami X) [5]

Jingles, Street Performers Independence Concert, from Free Venice Beachhead, Issue No. 127, July 1980 *[6] (References Swami X as a "Venice Beach favorite" who could not attend the event in 1980)

Free Venice Beachhead, Issue No. 292, page 3 [7] (includes a photograph of Swami X at his 80th birthday party)

[edit] External links

[8] For a brief reference to Swami X as a performer in a 1980 street fair in Venice, California
[9] For a description of Swami X's act
[10]For a reference to Swami X's appearance on Texas college campuses
[11] For another reference to Swami X as a street performer in Venice, California throughout the 1960s and 1970s
[12] reference from quotegarden.com for "sex is not the answer"
[13] another reference for "sex is not the answer" (one of many others that could be cited)
[14] references X Swami X's street performances on Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley
[15] Swami X live and in person on Venice Beach (video clip)